礻

shìzìpáng

radical variant

Meanings

1 altar on left radical (variant of 示)
2 left form of the altar/spirit radical, Kangxi #113

Tips

usage

礻 on the left flags the sacred - gods, ancestors, ritual, blessing, omens. It is the altar radical 示 squeezed into a four-stroke column for side-by-side compounds. Easy to confuse with the clothing radical 衤, which has one extra stroke (a tick on the right). Never written alone.

history

礻 is the calligraphic compression of 示, originally a pictograph of a stone altar with offerings on top. In left-position the wide horizontal of 示 keeps its top tick but the lower legs collapse into a narrow vertical, freeing the right half of the host character for a phonetic.

usage

Sacred/ritual cue: 神 (spirit/god), 礼 (courtesy/ritual), 福 (blessing), 祝 (wish/bless), 祖 (ancestor), 社 (society - earth-altar).

Radical

Altar; Spirit Kangxi #113

Highly productive, marking characters about ritual, ancestral spirits, blessings, and omens. The full form 示 sits at the bottom (祭 sacrifice, 票 ticket, originally a fluttering omen). The slim left-side variant 礻 (示字旁) drives the everyday compounds: 神, 礼, 福, 祝, 祖, 社, 祸. Strong meaning clue.

Forms

示 shì

Default 7 characters

礻 shìzìpáng

Left 28 characters

Used in

View all 28 →

Showing 6 of 28 · left form 礻 of 示

祝 zhù

to wish (someone well) · to pray for; to express good wishes

神 shén

god; deity; spirit · mind; consciousness; expression

礼 lǐ

gift; present · ceremony; ritual

福 fú

good fortune; happiness · luck; blessing

社 shè

society; organization · agency; association

祸 huò

disaster · misfortune

Stroke Order